Day 4 Hereford to Northwich

Longest day of the tour - 102 miles in 7.5 hours! Things went well with bike and rider, less well with satnav - more on that in a moment. Steep, long climb out of Hereford but legs felt OK. Good progress through Westminster, Ludlow and Shrewsbury. Just north of Shrewsbury satnav took me on a bridlepath (which by itself was fine as guidebook had warned me) which got more and more muddy, impossible to ride on and upon dismount mud went over tops of shoes! Bike was covered author did more effing and jeffing and to make matters worse bridlepath disappeared leave me stranded in middle of fields. After crossing bogs and barbed wire fences (not a pretty sight) I emerged on A49 200m from where I'd left it 75 mins earlier. The drivechain was making some sick noises and I limped into next village where I found today's hero - local garage owner who provided detergent, hose, buckets and sponge. Turns out he himself had kidneys destroyed by cancer and had been given a transplant. Talk about a small world working in mysterious ways. Also shows how many lives are affected by kidney problems. Cruised into Whitchuch had roast dinner and final 20 miles into Northwich - very much Beckham territory! Bum very sore (I'll spare you details) but did resort to 2 pairs of padded shorts mid-afternoon. Only 90 miles tomorrow but hope to meet brother the focus of the ride charity is all about for lunch in Preston and dinner with mum in Kendal. Got a feeling it's gonna be an emotional day. Keep the support coming - I'm loving it. Cheers John.